Teengirl Fantasy

The atmospheric Brooklyn-based dance duo talk to Ryan Dombal about their upcoming sophomore album, Tracer, working with Panda Bear, touring with Crystal Castles, America's exploding dance music scene, and who they'd love to work with.

Teengirl Fantasy revel in breakdowns-- their ambient dance music often lives in that in-between moment when the beat is building back up to full strength. But instead of reverting to a hands-in-the-air 4/4, their songs just keep mutating-- different sounds and patterns come in, blurring the bass as well as the listener's expectations. After establishing their dreamy take on club music with 2010's 7AM-- highlighted by the stunning single "Cheaters"-- Nick Weiss and Logan Takahashi return with their sophomore album, Tracer, due out August 21 on True Panther/R&S. The record has the Brooklyn-based duo working with more original vocals courtesy of guests including Panda Bear, Laurel Halo, and Daft Punk collaborator Romanthony. (Check out a snippet of album cut "End" above.)

I met the 22-year-olds a few months back, as they were putting the finishing touches on the LP at their friend's cozy studio on the outskirts of Williamsburg, near the East River. The space was bunker-like and somewhat apocalyptic-- a big barking canine greeted me at the building's front door, followed closely by a woman with a heavy accent who was cowering close by, terrified of the dog. Equipment lined the walls of a narrow hallway connecting a series of makeshift rooms. I sat on a well-worn couch as the pair played songs from the album and talked about Drake, candy ravers, and their take on the exploding big-tent dance music scene. (Teengirl Fantasy's upcoming tour dates can be found after the interview as well.)

Pitchfork: On this new album, you flirt with house and techno grooves without really ever totally falling into one. Are you ever tempted to make something more straightforward?

Nick Weiss: In general, to sit down and be like, "I'm gonna write a specific type of house or techno song" is pretty limiting. With minimal or deep-house stuff, a lot of it actually does sound the same, though there is definitely an art in perfecting all the sounds, and we both love listening to that kind of stuff. I've tried to make really straight-up pop or trance for friends and that is totally fun to do. To write a perfect pop song is so much harder than it sounds, and we have the utmost respect for that. But it's a different way of thinking. It's more of a game than something that feels like your own original creation. When we're making music we try to think outside of genre and do something different.

Pitchfork: There are more collaborations with vocalists on this album. Do you like that process of working with outside artists?

NW: It rules. There's definitely something about vocals that give the songs this heavier emotional quality that I really like.

Logan Takahashi: The song with [Panda Bear] was really cool because the instrumental has this more upbeat vibe, and then he's like, "Oh yeah, this song is about my friend who just died two days ago." We were like, "Oh shit." We're pretty open to working with people. I mean, this is a collaboration between us already.

NW: We like the idea of being a band. Also, the potential of being a production team and just writing songs for people is cool, too.

Pitchfork: Who would you want to work with as a production team?

NW: I think we could do something cool with Drake. But we'd want to infuse our own style rather than copy his style.

LT: We both really like Sade.

NW: That's the ultimate dream.

Pitchfork: What are some new sounds you've been exposed to since the last album?

LT: We both started using these digital FM vector synthesizers that have this 90s sound that we both really like. When you get into digital synths, it opens up the whole world of music. We were also exposed to different worlds of electronic music; we've always had pretty eclectic tastes, but this album has more of an overall Detroit techno vibe.

Pitchfork: Were there any places you played that reacted especially well?

LT: Eastern European people are always super receptive. The Belgian techno scene is crazy.

NW: It's the home of that kind of music. It's so funny because you'll walk into an apartment and so many people will have a 303 or an 808 [drum machine] sitting around. That's where [new label] R&S came from, and we went to school for a little while in Amsterdam, too.

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Pitchfork: Was it hard finishing up school while doing Teengirl Fantasy?

NW: Very hard.

LT: There was a moment when we thought we might not graduate. Animal Collective asked us to go on tour during the week of our finals.

NW: In the car coming back from the airport from that tour, we looked on our phones and were like, "Oh yeah, we graduated." The day after was our commencement.

Pitchfork: Any bizarre touring experiences over the last couple of years?

NW: We toured with Crystal Castles, which was pretty interesting. The venues were really big.

LT: It was like being at Six Flags.

NW: Their audience was really young, but really on drugs. It was almost scary. It was like watching candy-ravers get into a fight-- an actual fistfight broke out while we were playing at Terminal 5. So funny.

LT: Their lights are like mind-control.

NW: Hopefully, we can have a crazy visual show like that at some point.

Pitchfork: What do you guys think of the commercial dance scene right now? Would you play one of these huge dance festivals if asked?

NW: Hell yeah, that would be sick.

LT: Huge club culture isn't something either of us are super familiar with or draw inspiration from, but we would totally do it.

NW: The huge commercial rave stuff seems so crazy. I love to watch videos of the hardstyle festivals in Europe, where the production value is huge. It's basically like a fire show built out of a huge robot, all in time with these super-distorted hardstyle kicks. That shit is so cool.

Pitchfork: Would you have to change your typical set for that kind of audience?

NW: I feel like those people are on so many drugs that as long as we had a loud kick running the whole time, it would work out.